Rush attends Wyoming Working Together

Earlier this month, Thermopolis-Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Meri Ann Rush attended Wyoming Working Together, presented by the Wyoming Economic Development Association, the Wyoming State Chamber of Commerce and the Wyoming Main Street.

All three of the organizations get together and there are some great breakout sessions, but what Rush really enjoys is, though she knows what the different agencies do, being in the same room with them and hearing their ideas gives a person a better idea of what’s actually going on.

Rush sits on the Wyoming State Chamber Board, and was elected to president-elect for 2019.

The conference was in Evanston, and those attending toured the community. Rush said it’s interesting to see how other communities work together, and one of the things she took away is that it didn’t matter where in the town you were, the lighting and other street décor was similar so there was a sense of community, that the whole community was tied in, not just a certain area.

This past week, Rush also attended the Community Builders Leadership Institute along with John Dorman Sr., Amanda Moeller, Shurie Scheel, Howie and Suzanne Samleson, Forrest Coleman-Weisz and Amy Quick, the regional director for the Wyoming Business Council.

At the Institute, Rush explained, people visit about their communities. She noted their work was similar to the placemaking workshop in Thermopolis on Sept. 12, to where they look at different areas that can be improved. For instance, connecting the downtown with Hot Springs State Park, so people can go easily from one area to the next.

Rush said she came away with a lot of notes on things to implement, and they did come away with a few goals. Another topic discussed was how to do community engagement, and an idea was doing open house surveys. During Oktobrewfest on Saturday, Oct. 6, Rush said, there will be an area where people can answer questions about the community and people are encouraged to stop by and give feedback about what they love in Thermopolis and what projects they would like to see.

Rush said it was interesting to see the pointers on how to get the community involved, such as the idea for the surveys and talking directly with people face-to-face to get them more involved in the community.